In 2011, Los Angeles’ Getty Foundation introduced Pacific Standard Time, a collaborative project that aimed to solidify Los Angeles as one of the nation’s top arts destinations. Venues throughout Southern California submitted proposals to the Getty that centered on a central theme: Los Angeles’ post-war arts evolution. The resulting collaboration of 60 institutions was unprecedented for the region at the time.

Now Pacific Standard Time returns this September with more than 70 participating art spaces. Bearing the name PST: LA/LA, the sole purpose is to highlight Latin American and Latino art throughout Los Angeles’ history.

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Museum of Photographic Arts, University of San Diego and San Diego Museum of Art each received hundreds of thousands in funding to explore the arts of Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Mexico and more. The Mingei Museum did not request funding, but will present ancient objects of Latin origins from its own collection. The Getty asked the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) to contribute even after grants were dried up, causing local curator and artist Alessandra Moctezuma to assemble an exhibit without the foundation’s financial aid.

But by joining late, Moctezuma was able to survey the lineup of topics and noticed that not much of the programming focused on the Baja border. So, she took on the region for OMA’s PST:LA/LA exhibit Undocumenta. While Moctezuma acknowledges that border issues are not novel, she says the participating artists are taking an innovative approach to the topic.

“There’s emerging artists that are dealing with it using technology, making the projects accessible to an audience now through the internet,” Moctezuma says.

One such example is Teresita De La Torre’s Todos Los Dias. It’s a collection of photographs she shared on her Instagram account every day for a year, featuring a flannel she found at the border.

“She took it with her and decided to wear it every day to kind of pay homage to the person who crossed,” says Moctezuma. “Whatever she was wearing that day and whatever activity she was involved in, she would incorporate that into her work. So if she was going to a wedding, she would find a way to put it around her.”

Five of the six artists within Undocumenta incorporate performance art.

“I like that aspect of social practice, the idea of some of the artists being kind of loud in the public sphere and creating these pieces,” says Moctezuma. There’s also a video and artistic rendering by Ana Teresa Fernandez, who dressed up in a black dress and stilettos to paint the Tijuana border wall a powder blue, producing an optical illusion of its removal. Undocumenta also features photos of artist Claudia Cano as her false persona: Rosa Hernandez, a cleaning lady who sweeps in public spaces and speaks only in Spanish.

“She draws attention to the aspect of the invisible labor,” says Moctezuma. “She wants to make people aware of this difficulty of coming to a different country and not being able to communicate, and yet at the same time, being a participant in the economy and trying to survive.”

Moctezuma selected the participating artists two years ago and says Undocumenta was just as relevant then as it will be come the opening of the exhibition on Saturday, Sept. 23.

“I don’t think that [the show] is different from what I envisioned,” she says. “It will have more meaning for other people who experience it. It could either enrage them or make them more upset or it will validate some of their ideals.”

MORE VISUAL ART

Left coast: Thirty-four ceramicists from up and down the West Coast will share their contemporary take on the medium inBC to BC: A Survey of Contemporary Ceramics from Baja California to British Columbia. Debuting Saturday, Sept. 16 at the San Diego Art Institute, there will be pieces from Allison Schulnik, Peter Shire, Kristen Morgin and more. Participating and renowned Mexican artist Daria Mariscal will lead a pottery-making workshop using techniques more than 1,000 years old. Free coffee will be served in cups made by another participating artist, Maggie Boyd, who crafted the cups from clay deposits found in Balboa Park. One catch: Boyd asks that the cups be smashed after the last drop so she can gather the pieces and return them to the park. sandiego-art.org

Black magic: Earlier this year, Madison Gallery chose New York-based artist James Austin Murray to be the first participant of its inaugural artist-in-residence program. The result is Murray’s premiere solo exhibit on the West Coast, Light on Black. The collection features new artworks of his trademark large, monochromatic ebony oil paintings, which match the fluidity of water with the dimensionality of etched steel. His strokes, this time, are inspired by time spent along the West Coast and specifically in La Jolla, where the gallery is located. Light on Black opens Saturday, Sept. 16 with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. and closes Nov. 5. madisongalleries.com

Two for one: Joyce Cutler-Shaw was the first to graduate from UC San Diego’s MFA program in 1969. She was also the first and only artist-in-residence of the university’s medical school. Starting Saturday, Sept. 23, UCSD will again honor the artist by participating in the two-location exhibit Joyce Cutler-Shaw: Library Duet. In addition to the permanent display of her calligraphy Alphabet of Bones, the Geisel Library will show her latest work Brain Project. This collection documents her recent diagnosis of the progressive neurological disease Corticobasal Syndrome with brain scans, tunnel books with movies and more. Meanwhile, The Athenaeum will host Cutler-Shaw’s artist’s books, which are a part of the venue’s permanent collection. ljathenaeum.org

Patchwork: Throughout the Indian subcontinent, decorative, hand-stitched quilts are called kantha. While typically composed of recycled saris or dhotis, the specific design and purpose of kantha vary. In the West Indian region of Bengal, kanthas may be used for warmth, as a wedding gift or congratulatory present for a newborn child. Their versatility extended to encompass book covers and ceremonial mats as well. And traditionally, they are passed between generations as family heirlooms. Forty such Bengali textiles from the Mingei Museum’s permanent collection will be on display during Kantha: Recycled and Embroidered Textiles of Bengal. The exhibit has been curated by Christine Hietbrink and opens Saturday, Oct. 28. mingei.org